{"id":577,"date":"2015-10-06T14:06:18","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T13:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/amhran-an-tae\/"},"modified":"2019-06-26T14:49:49","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T13:49:49","slug":"amhran-an-tae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/amhran-an-tae\/","title":{"rendered":"Amhr\u00e1n an Tae"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 id=\"t:seinnteoirin1\">Play recording: Amhr\u00e1n an Tae<\/h2>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-577-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/amhran-an-tae.mp3?_=1\" \/><source type=\"audio\/ogg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/amhran-an-tae.ogg?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/amhran-an-tae.mp3\">https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/00-micil\/me\u00e1in\/amhran-an-tae.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<div class=\"dmeite\">\n<p><span id=\"neasc-nocht-ceilth\" class=\"nmeite\">view \/ hide recording details [+\/-]<\/span><\/p>\n<ul id=\"clarMeiteashonrai\" class=\"meiteashonrai\">\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Teideal <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Title)<\/span>:<\/span> Amhr\u00e1n an Tae.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Chatal\u00f3ige Ollscoil Washington <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(University of Washington Catalogue Number)<\/span>:<\/span> 850112.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Chnuasach Bh\u00e9aloideas \u00c9ireann <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(National Folklore of Ireland Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Roud <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Roud Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Laws <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Laws Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Uimhir Child <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Child Number)<\/span>:<\/span> none.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Cnuasach <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Collection)<\/span>:<\/span> Joe Heaney Collection, University of Washington, Seattle.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Teanga na Cro\u00edmh\u00edre <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Core-Item Language)<\/span>:<\/span> Irish.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Catag\u00f3ir <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Category)<\/span>:<\/span> song.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Ainm an t\u00e9 a thug <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Name of Informant)<\/span>:<\/span> Joe Heaney.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Ainm an t\u00e9 a th\u00f3g <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Name of Collector)<\/span>:<\/span> James Cowdery.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">D\u00e1ta an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Date)<\/span>:<\/span> between 1979 and 1981.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Su\u00edomh an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Location)<\/span>:<\/span> Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, United States of America.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Oc\u00e1id an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording Occasion)<\/span>:<\/span> private.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">Daoine eile a bh\u00ed i l\u00e1thair <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Others present)<\/span>:<\/span> unavailable.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai\">St\u00e1das ch\u00f3ipcheart an taifeadta <span class=\"lipead-meiteashonrai-bearla\">(Recording copyright status)<\/span>:<\/span> unavailable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Did I ever sing <cite class=\"amhr\u00e1n\">Amhr\u00e1n an Tae<\/cite> for you?&hellip; &#8216;Song of the Tea&#8217;? Colm a&#8217; Bhail\u00eds, a poet, made a song about two people arguing in a field about tea&hellip; during the First World War, I think. He wanted&hellip; Now, she&#8217;s talking about tea. The man wanted tobacco. And she said, &#8216;we don&#8217;t have anything in the house, only two&hellip; eggs that the hens laid, and we&#8217;ll have to give that to the children.&#8217; And he said, &#8216;If you don&#8217;t get me tobacco,&#8217; he said, &#8216;I&#8217;ll break your back with the spade.&#8217; And eh&hellip; it&#8217;s a dialogue between the two.<\/p>\n<p>Trathn\u00f3na D\u00e9 Sathairn ag dul faoi don ghr\u00e9in<br \/>\nA chonaic m\u00e9 l\u00e1n\u00fan i ngarra\u00ed leo f\u00e9in<br \/>\nBh\u00ed an bhean &#8216;s \u00ed go caithiseach ag caint ar an tae<br \/>\n&#8216;S n\u00edor mhaith leis an bhfear \u00ed a bheith ag tr\u00e1cht air.<\/p>\n<p>She was talking about tea, and he wanted to put the subject onto tobacco.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Muise, b\u00edonn tusa i gc\u00f3na\u00ed ag cur s\u00edos ar an tae<br \/>\nIs an l\u00e1 a mb\u00edonn s\u00e9 agat n\u00ed feictear agat \u00e9<br \/>\nImigh leat is faigh tobac dom ar mhaithe leat f\u00e9in<br \/>\nN\u00f3 roinnfidh m\u00e9 leat feac na l\u00e1\u00ed.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;\u00d3, c\u00e9n sl\u00ed at\u00e1 agamsa? c\u00e1 bhfaighinn-se dhuit \u00e9?<br \/>\nAch ag ceangail d\u00e1 chirc a raibh ubh aice r\u00e9ir<br \/>\nRud a th\u00f3ig t\u00fa faoi Nollaig, n\u00edor \u00edoc t\u00fa f\u00f3s \u00e9<br \/>\n&#8216;S t\u00e1 an m\u00e9id sin sathach gann ag na p\u00e1ist\u00ed.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Now, she says, &#8216;what we borrowed at Christmas, we never paid for yet&hellip; What we have is scarce enough for the kids.&#8217; And he says&hellip; &#8216;If I went to Galway or to Headford&hellip; Cinvara or Tralee&hellip; I&#8217;d be hired in a house a week or a month&hellip; I&#8217;d earn the price of a drawer and a <i class=\"cor-cainte-teangan-eile\">b\u00e1in\u00edn<\/i><sup class=\"tagairt-n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">1<\/sup>.&#8217; That was the old style that the men wore long ago, the <i class=\"cor-cainte-teangan-eile\">b\u00e1in\u00edn<\/i>, and the drawer they called the white trouser, and the <i class=\"cor-cainte-teangan-eile\">b\u00e1in\u00edn<\/i> is the, is the, what they wear as gimmicks now you see, you know what I mean, people wear as gimmicks. <i class=\"cor-cainte-teangan-eile\">B\u00e1in\u00edn<\/i>, made of white wool, white tweed&hellip; it&#8217;s as warm as an overcoat. That&#8217;s what he said to her.<\/p>\n<p>Dh\u00e1 dteinnse go Gaillimh n\u00f3 soir go h\u00c1th Cinn<br \/>\nAnonn go Cinn Mhara n\u00f3 s\u00edos go Tr\u00e1 L\u00ed<br \/>\nCasfa\u00ed i dteach m\u00e9 seachtain n\u00f3 m\u00ed<br \/>\nAgus saorth\u00f3inn luach dr\u00e1r agus b\u00e1in\u00edn.<\/p>\n<p>And she said&hellip; &#8216;You went before, and you came back&hellip; You didn&#8217;t have a bloody halfpenny!&hellip; You lay on your bed, snoring and sleeping all day!&hellip; That&#8217;s all you did.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Muise, d&#8217;imigh t\u00fa cheana is th\u00e1inig t\u00fa ar\u00eds<br \/>\nN\u00ed fhaca muid agat cor\u00f3in, scillinn n\u00e1 pingin<br \/>\nLuigh t\u00fa ar do leaba is bh\u00ed d&#8217;easnacha\u00ed tinn<br \/>\nBh\u00ed an slaghd\u00e1n go domhain i do chn\u00e1mha.<\/p>\n<p>Muise, \u00e9ist do bh\u00e9al feasta, a amaid de shraoill<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Well, you, you, you&hellip; <i class=\"cor-cainte-teangan-eile\">sraoill<\/i>. You stupid woman,&#8217; he said, &#8216;if you don&#8217;t shut up I&#8217;ll break your back with the spade.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Muise, \u00e9ist do bh\u00e9al feasta, a amaid de shraoill<br \/>\nN\u00f3 buailfidh m\u00e9 buille ort a bhrisfeas do dhroim<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Fighting and arguing is nagging you for all your life,&#8217; he said, &#8216;and your mother had the same habit.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Ag troid is ag achrann a chaith t\u00fa do shaol<br \/>\n&#8216;S bh\u00ed an faisean c\u00e9anna ag do mh\u00e1ithr\u00edn!<\/p>\n<p>And the end of it was, they went to a lawyer to settle the problem. He couldn&#8217;t settle the problem for them, which wanted the tea and the other wanted tobacco.<\/p>\n<p>Chuadar go Gaillimh ag iarraidh fear dl\u00ed<br \/>\nAg s\u00fail le go n&#8209;iarrfadh s\u00e9 an cr\u00edochn\u00fa (?) dhaoibh;<br \/>\nN\u00ed dearnadh don bheirt ach magadh is b\u00e9&#8209;h\u00e9<br \/>\nAch t\u00e1im cinnte gur cailleadh na p\u00e1ist\u00ed.<\/p>\n<p>The judge threw them out, he laughed at them. But the end of the story was, that he thought the kids died. A terrible ending to a song. That was Colm a&#8217; Bhail\u00eds<sup class=\"tagairt-n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">2<\/sup> who wrote that. It&#8217;s the same air as <cite class=\"amhr\u00e1n\">The Wife of the Bold Tenant Farmer<\/cite>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"t:aistriuchan\">Translation<\/h2>\n<p>On a Saturday evening, as the sun was going down,<br \/>\nI saw a couple in their garden<br \/>\nThe woman was complaining about the tea<br \/>\nAnd the man didn&#8217;t want to hear it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Oh, you&#8217;re always going on about the tea<br \/>\nand the day you have it you never produce any.<br \/>\nGo out and get me some tobacco, if you know what&#8217;s good for you,<br \/>\nOr I&#8217;ll cut you in half with the spade!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Oh, how&#8217;s that then? Where will I get it for you?<br \/>\nWe&#8217;ve only the two hens that laid an egg last night!<br \/>\nWhat you borrowed at Christmas you haven&#8217;t paid for yet,<br \/>\nAnd things are meagre enough for the children!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;If I went to Galway or Headford<br \/>\nAcross to Kinvara or down to Tralee<br \/>\nI&#8217;d be hired for a week or a month<br \/>\nAnd I&#8217;d earn the price of trousers and a bawneen!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You went already, and you came back again,<br \/>\nAnd we never saw a crown, shilling, or penny from you!<br \/>\nYou lay in bed moaning about sore ribs,<br \/>\nAnd how the cold was deep in your bones!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Oh, shut up, you slovenly fool,<br \/>\nOr I&#8217;ll give you a beating that will break your back!<br \/>\nYou&#8217;ve spent your whole life fighting and arguing<br \/>\nAnd your mother was just the same.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>They went off to Galway looking for a lawyer<br \/>\nHoping he could settle things between them.<br \/>\nBut they were only laughed out of court<br \/>\nAnd I&#8217;m certain that the children died.<\/p>\n<div class=\"n\u00f3ta\u00ed-bun-leathanaigh\">\n<h2 id=\"t:notai\">Notes<\/h2>\n<p class=\"n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">1. Pronounced &#8216;bawneen&#8217;. Literally, &#8216;white stuff&#8217;. The name given to the white wool yarn knitted into sweaters, shawls and other clothing by the women of Conamara and Oile\u00e1in \u00c1rann (the Aran Islands). As Joe explains elsewhere, the patterns of the knitted sweaters were unique to each household, so that if someone were lost at sea and his body later washed up, he might be identified by the pattern of the <i class=\"cor-cainte-teangan-eile\">b\u00e1in\u00edn<\/i> he was wearing. In calling these items of clothing &#8216;gimmicks&#8217;, Joe is referring to their having been popularised by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, who famously wore them during their stage performances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"n\u00f3ta-bun-leathanaigh\">2. Colm de Bhail\u00eds (1796&ndash;1906), born somewhere in Ceantar na nOile\u00e1n (the Islands; not the same as the Aran Islands, however), about 12 miles east of Carna as the crow flies &mdash; and considerably longer by road. He was a contemporary of two other poets mentioned by Joe, Antaine Raifteara\u00ed (1784&ndash;1835) and Miche\u00e1l Mac&nbsp;Suibhne (1760&ndash;1820). Particularly known for his comic gifts, he is today admired particularly for <cite class=\"amhr\u00e1n\">Amhr\u00e1n an Tae<\/cite>, <cite class=\"amhr\u00e1n\">An Seanduine Cam<\/cite>, and <cite class=\"amhr\u00e1n\">C\u00fairt an tSruth\u00e1in Bhu\u00ed<\/cite>, all of which can be found on commercial recordings. See G. Denvir (ed.), <cite class=\"leabhar\">Amhr\u00e1in Choilm de Bhail\u00eds<\/cite> (1996); also C\u00f3il Neaine Ph\u00e1id\u00edn Mac&nbsp;Donncha, <cite class=\"ceirn\u00edn-albam\">Pluid Dhorcha Le\u00e1ra<\/cite> (tape and booklet, 1993). <cite class=\"amhr\u00e1n\">Amhr\u00e1n an Tae<\/cite> was recorded by Darach \u00d3&nbsp;Cath\u00e1in for Se\u00e1n \u00d3&nbsp;Riada&#8217;s seminal recording, <cite class=\"ceirn\u00edn-albam\">Reacaireacht an Riadaigh<\/cite>; by Maggie Dirrane for Songs of Aran, recorded by Sidney Robertson Cowell and issued by Folkways in 1957; and more recently by Treasa N\u00ed&nbsp;Mhioll\u00e1in and M\u00e1irt\u00edn Tom She\u00e1in\u00edn Mac&nbsp;Donncha, among others. For additional verses and some discussion, see R\u00edonach u\u00ed&nbsp;\u00d3g\u00e1in (ed.), <cite class=\"leabhar\">Faoi Rotha na Gr\u00e9ine: Amhr\u00e1in as Conamara a Bhailigh M\u00e1irt\u00edn \u00d3&nbsp;Cadhain<\/cite> (Dublin, 1999), 183&ndash;4.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"templates\/template-full-width.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amhrain","category-amhrain-i-ngaeilge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2746,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577\/revisions\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeheaney.org\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}